"The Scavenger Bride"
Chapter 26: Negotiations

Independence Square was empty and silent as the grave, yet there was an electricity in the air that couldn't be matched. It made my heart flutter and twist in a way that I hated. Since we were working in the dark, the courtyard had to be lit up by the lights from the cop cars. The light breeze that hit us felt wonderful, but it did little to calm my already shredded nerves. It lifted to us a sound from across the courtyard; the shout of a young woman. I couldn't understand what she had said, but, from the tone of it, it wasn't happy. It wasn't a moment or so before she appeared. The hunched figure of a now completely disheveled Quentin came into view with her; he had her by the hair and, even though she was still on her feet, he was dragging her across the courtyard, howling and snarling and making the most God-awful and inhuman noises I'd ever heard. He looked so much worse, though, like he was beginning to come apart…

The young woman began to shriek again, and as my eyes began to focus, I realized I knew her. Jesus, I knew her! She'd sat next to me through two semesters of Gross Anatomy, helped me get my notes together. Was even a part of the study group that met once a week, including the night I'd found out I was pregnant. Her name was Hannah, and she was a sweet girl. "Oh, God…." I began to feel sick.

"Miss Phillips? You alright?" Officer Campbell grabbed my arm.

"Hannah. Her name is Hannah Carson," I indicated Quentin's hostage.

He glanced at her and then back at me. "You know her?"

"We were study partners in Gross Anatomy this past year."

Campbell got over the bullhorn as we hunkered down behind his car. His was one of about seven, all parked around the edges of the park. Quentin's parole officer, a frazzled and worn-down man in his late forties, had arrived, as well. "Hannah?"

My old study partner perked up at the sound of her name. "Wha- who is that?" Quentin jerked at her and she shrieked again. I grabbed the bullhorn from Campbell. "Hannah, it- it's me, it's Imogen. Imogen Phillips. We had anatomy together."

"Imogen?" Her face lit up in recognition. "Who the fuck is this guy?! Get him off- OW!" Quentin let out a roar, pulling the woman towards him suddenly.

"Don't worry!" I called out. "He's gonna let you go."

"Please, hurry! I'm scared!"

"I know, Hannah, I know, they're doing everything they can-"

Campbell motioned for the bullhorn back, and I obliged. "Mister West," he called out to Quentin. "You're gonna have to let the young lady go now."

Quentin's face was contorting, changing; horrified and fascinated, I watched it morph in front of me like a chameleon. It was losing its human characteristics, and I wasn't sure how much longer our "flu" theory could hold up, although I surely felt we were convincing enough in our feigned ignorance as to his condition. There were things that happened in this town that people came to accept as being normal: alien abduction, fish people, evil gods from inner space. What was one more urban legend? Quentin gave another roaring howl, throwing Hannah on the ground; she screamed, curling up and covering her head with her arms. Quentin was rearing back to do his worst…

"Father?"

Quentin stopped and looked up. To my absolute horror, Herbert was up and around the car, slowly making his way across they courtyard.

"Herbert, what are you doing?!" I shrieked, leaping up for him.

"No, Imogen, don't!" Campbell grabbed me and dragged me back down. I fought him, tears stinging my eyes.

"Stop! Get off me! He can't, he can't, he'll kill him! Herbert!"

"It's alright, Imogen," my partner called back to me. "Everything is going to be just fine."

Quentin had released Hannah, finally, and was now completely transfixed on his son. He didn't notice the cop off to the side motion for my old classmate, and she went scuttling off to safety without so much as a glance back.

"You've got to come with these men, Father. They will take care of you."

His father made a sound then, as if he were trying to speak, but it all came out in a garbled growl, unintelligible and bizarre. He looked confused, as if he didn't know what to believe, when he finally made a face, reaching up for the gaping wound on the side of his head. It was then I realized why he seemed to be falling apart mentally: his brain had finally leaked completely out from the wound inflicted by his son. He pulled his hand away, studying the mass of crimson blood that stained his fingertips. I could tell he was struggling to remember.

"Will you come with me?" Herbert's voice shook, yet he remained strong and didn't back down. My fear for his safety mixed with pride then. Herbert held out his hand - they were about five or so yards apart at that point - and Quentin glanced at it, then up to the cops, his eyes darting around the courtyard until they finally landed… on me. His eyes went wide. He looked back to Herbert, then to me, and back to his son again. My stomach began to drop out from beneath me as I watched Quentin's panic rise. Oh, God, no.

The following events occurred in mere seconds; yet, as everyone knows, when severe moments of trauma occur, time slows down to an excruciating crawl and your limbs turn to lead. At that moment, Quentin, remembering enough, let out the worst sound he'd made yet. It was a combination of every horrid sound you remember from your worst nightmares, louder than anything I'd ever heard. But that wasn't what unleashed the white-hot terror through my veins. It was seeing Quentin hunker down and fly straight for my partner that made my blood freeze. The sounds Quentin was making were matched only by the sounds of screaming, and it took me a second to realize the screams were my own. All of a sudden, BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM - the cops opened fire and Quentin collapsed in a bloody, messy heap at Herbert's feet. My partner hadn't been shot, although he stumbled backwards a foot or two in shock as I raced to him. In the moments leading up to my reaching him, I watched his chest heave in an attempt to catch his breath. I reached for him, and as his eyes met mine I watched them glaze over. And then he collapsed, unconscious, into the cool grass of the courtyard.

"Herbert?" I sobbed. "Oh, Herbert, no….." Falling to the ground next to him, I pulled him up into my arms and cried.

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He was still out as EMS whisked us away moments later; I sat in the back of the ambulance with him and held his hand anyway. The EMT told me he was stable for the time being, but given the information I'd passed along (this being the third time in three days - second in one - he'd been rendered unconscious), they were fearful he'd sustained brain injury. I was so scared. I cried the whole way to the hospital, my head buried in my partner's chest.

When we arrived, Herbert was rushed into get some CAT scans done to check for any brain damage. I, in the meantime, was taken away to another section of the hospital to get myself checked up. I had completely forgotten I'd even been injured, I was so consumed in concern for my partner. "Wait," I stopped the doctor as a throng of medical personnel came to rush Herbert away. "What if he wakes up? Please, I wanna be there when he wakes up."

"Don't worry," the doctor reassured me. "I'm sure we'll be done with you much sooner than they will with him. I'll take you down there after we finish with you, I promise. Now, come on."

"Miss Phillips?"

I turned at the sound of my name. Officer Campbell was approaching me and the doctor, and we stopped so he could catch up. "Yes?"

"Have you recently misplaced a car, by chance?"

Despite the insanity, I didn't miss a beat. "Oh, my God, you found it!"

"Yes, well, what was left of it. It was a few miles out from Innsmouth, burnt out to a crispy shell. What happened? Was it stolen?"

"Officer, I'm sorry - can we finish this down the hall? I really need to get her checked out."

"Of course. Lead the way, doc." We started walking, and I continued.

"Um- yeah, yeah, Herbert and I were mugged the other night. We were in Innsmouth, visiting my family."

"Can you tell me exactly what happened?"

"Well, I wanted to show Herbert the area, because it's where I grew up; I was showing him some of my old stomping grounds and we were stopped at a light when these people showed up….."

"How many?"

"Three. Two men and a woman."

"Could you describe them?"

"Um….. yeah, maybe." I shook my head. "Look, do I have to do this now? I'm sorry, I just- I'm really worried about Herbert and our baby and I wanna make sure we're okay."

"Of course, Miss Phillips. Here's my card; call me when you're home and we can set up a date when the two of you can come in and make a statement."

"Thank you, I will. I appreciate you finding my car. But- well, how did you know it was mine?"

"License plates?" Officer Campbell shrugged.

"Aah. Yes. Well." I nodded in understanding. "Thanks again."

I was way too fidgety, and the poor doctor had a tough time examining me. I tried my best to remain calm, but I was just so upset. One of the last things the doctor did was preform a sonogram to check on the baby; one more fear of mine being faced. But there was no need for fear - "You're baby's going to be fine," the doctor smiled at me. Tears welled over then, and I nodded a thank you. He smiled at me kindly, and glanced back up at the screen. I watched my baby float around, and seeing the little thing calm and collected steadied my nerves. "Do you want to know what it is?"

My eyes darted to the doctor. He was grinning. "What?" I stammered.

"Your baby. I can tell you the gender."

"You can tell?" I asked, and he nodded, still grinning. A smile crept over my face. "Okay. What… what is it?"

"You're having a little girl."

The doctor gave me some Ibuprofen for the pain and swelling, and then offered to take me up to see Herbert, which I was beyond ready for. He had just finished up the CAT scans, and was being wheeled into the recovery room. It had been only thirty short minutes since he blacked out, and he had stayed out since, but it was mere moments - a handful of century-long minutes as I paced the floor - before I heard Herbert moan. I'd been about to ask the nurse that was with us when he'd wake up. My heart practically leapt clean out of my throat as I rushed to him, sitting on the bed next to him and taking up his hand.

"Herbert?" I leaned down and kissed his cheek. "Can you hear me?"

"Nnnnnhhhh…." He was still half-dazed and somewhat confused as he tried to speak.

"Ssh, it's alright…." I soothed, brushing his hair from his forehead. "Take it easy. I'm right here."

His eyes began to de-fog then, and I watched them focus on the ceiling tiles above us as he glanced about the room for something familiar. Those dark eyes of his finally found mine, and I watched them tremble for a moment as he squeezed my hand. "Imogen?" His voice was feeble.

"Yeah, baby, I'm here," I smiled comfortingly.

His whole face fleshed out into a weak smile of relief. "Hello."

"Hi, doc." I grinned, still unable to help the tears that began to flow. "How you feeling?" From across the bed, the nurse overseeing Herbert smiled.

"Mmm…." Herbert tried to swallow, and let out a cough. "Seen better days."

I chuckled. "Indeed, you have."

"Welcome back, Doctor West." The nurse that had been staying with us stood at the foot of his bed, smiling. "You and your lady are real troopers. Both of y'all have taken quite a beating this weekend. You're lookin' better already."

"Thank you," my partner rasped, and coughed again.

"Here," I picked up the water the nurse had left for us, propping up his head and helping him drink. I thanked the nurse, as well, and she told us Herbert's CAT scan results would be available within the next half hour.

"In the meantime, Miss Phillips, I'm gonna go ahead and wheel Doctor West into his own room. We got a bed set up for you there, too."

"How long do you think we'll be staying?"

"Oh, that all depends, really. As for you, your doctor gave you the green light to go home first thing tomorrow, but as far as you go-" she indicated Herbert. "It'd all depend upon how your CAT scans come back."

Herbert nodded weakly. The slight internal squirm I saw in his eyes spoke volumes to me. I took up his hand in mine again. "Don't worry, Herbert," I stared at him knowingly. "Tomorrow, after I'm released, I'll go home and take care of everything."

My partner had that oh-so-slight smile on his face. "Thank you," he whispered.

"Always."

It was then the proverbial lightbulb went off over his head. He turned to the nurse. "My father?"

She became somber. "His remains are being taken in for autopsy as we speak."

I could feel the panic begin to rise inside my chest. "What?"

"Mm-hmm. He was very sick. They're curious as to exactly what it was he had come down with. But don't worry, Doctor Phillips. I've heard nothing but good things about Doctor Hill, and I'm sure he'll take very good care of him."